Deep, dark waters
by AceM
Summary: After three years on MT. Silver, a trip to Pallet Town with Green changes everything for Red, and in all the chaos and stress, they rarely even have time to define their weird friendship, or whatever this thing is between them. All Red knows is that he owes Green a lot. And that he might be able to make up for it when Green suddenly gets kidnapped.
1. Chapter 1

Notes:

I love these two. Way way too much. So I had to write something about them! I have to give a little warning though! Most stories give warnings that their fanfics are gonna be dirty and sexual, but at this point, since I believe that that's what a lot of people want, I guess I rather have to give the warning that there WON'T be any dirty sexual things happening in here. Just cute cuddly fluff stuff at most :D Oh, and some violence probably. And another thing: in my head while playing the games, I have always aged Red and Green up. So in this story, they were sixteen years old when Red destroyed Team Rocket and became champion, and now we're about at the time where they visit the Alola region, so they're like 21/22 years old. Hope you enjoy!

BY THE WAY (one last thing): can someone please tell me why everyone always says Green is such an unbearable brat? I just played Firered again for the first time in years and the guy was nothing but nice and pleasant all through the game, even gave me tips and items and stuff

Red had a hard time keeping a straight face after the nth time he saw Green's cocky smile crumble and his eyes grow wide, too shocked to even call his last defeated pokemon back into the ball. He felt a little disgusted about himself for feeling so superior and gleeful, especially after seeing the almost broken expression on his old rival's face. But gosh damnit! How many times had he approached Red already, grinning confidently and SWEARING he would "totally kick his ass this time", only to be defeated in under fifteen minutes? At this point, wasn't it Green's fault? He had to admit, he could get used to it, and slowly destroying Green's arrogant facade brick after brick would definitely be worth climbing down the snowy mountain. Other people (normal people) wondered about how many licks it took to get to a tootsie pop, but Red had been wondering how many battles it took to bring Green to tears. With that image in his head, Red _did_ grin, earning a death stare from Green.

But Green wouldn't be Green if he let any other emotion than his annoying cheerfulness show for more than two seconds, so his face soon got back into his pokerface, as Red called it. It was Green's go-to expression, and he wore it every second of the day, just like his oh-so-fashionable clothes. He could be angry, disappointed, sad, but all he dared to show to people was that superior grin, that "I'm better than you"-face, his "This just wasn't my day, I'm still better than you"- smile. It made Red feel a little less psychopathic for wanting to see him cry. He was just...curious, he guessed. He had made it a game, a competition for himself. _I bet _this_ time I can do it. _This _time I can make him cry. _

"Man, you're no fun!", Green exclaimed now. His voice was a little shaky, and Red didn't know if he was imagining things, but he could have sworn his eyes were glistening a little.  
He got excited for a second- _finally he had won his own little game-, _but Green, that asshole, gained his composure back in a split second and actually managed to look like Red's victory didn't bother him in the slightest.  
_Goddamnit. _Red knew that Green was really determined to beat him for some reason, and he also knew that it kinda really bothered him to lose. He had no idea why, he just knew that pokemon battles between him and Green were the most vulnerable time for his rival. For some reason, that made Red feel special. _He _had managed to get into his head. _He _had managed to make Green insecure. And _he _felt good about it. Sometimes Red wondered if he was an asshole.

"Anyway!", the auburn haired man continued, and Red couldn't help but think _"Typical. Bringing up something else to distract from his epic fail of a battle."  
_"I'm going back to Pallet Town. Gramps wants me there for some reason. No idea why though. The old man only calls me when he wants something from me, or to ask about _you."_

His voice still sounded casual to an amateur, but if you knew Green well enough to listen a little closer whenever he talked about his famous grandfather, professor Samuel Oak, you could hear an underlying bitterness. Red might be an asshole, but he wasn't that big of an asshole to take advantage of Green's grandpa-issues for his sick little game.

"You should come too," Green surprisingly said now. He hadn't tried to get Red off this mountain for like a year. "I don't know, it would get him off my back. You know how he is, criticizing everything I say and do. It's annoying."

_And it hurts, _Red added inside his head.

"And Daisy...I love her, but she still treats me like a child. She's all over me whenever I visit! And your mom misses you. She keeps asking me about you and all I can ever say is 'He's alive and he sends you greetings'. Do you know that you suck at being a son, Red?"

Ouch. That was a punch in the stomach, probably because it was true, and because he had been trying not to think about his mom ever since he came on MT. Silver. But he knew he couldn't talk to his mother without getting forcefully dragged down by his ear, so he had been procrastinating on it. _ Just one more day, _he had been thinking, enjoying the quiet, the lack of press and cameras, the peaceful, snowy nature.

Red still had the day he decided to come here clear in his head. He had just come from some Talkshow, wordlessly grabbed his things, and off he went, escaping his old life. Escaping, that was all he had been doing ever since he won the title of the Champion. Just a few days prior he had been escaping from clingy fangirls with uncomfortably revealing clothes, rubbing themselves all over him. He actually wondered if this counted as sexual harrassment, but the even more uncomfortable thing was that these girls had been twelve years old. _Twelve. _He still shuddered at the thought and regretted today's youth. Then he'd come home to Pallet Town, small, peaceful Pallet Town... and had seen the camera team in front of his home, with his mom trying to chase them away with a broom. Not just one day, _every _day. Other times, the way trusted family members and friends had looked at him suddenly changed. Affection had turned into greed. _How can I get something out of him? _Dating was impossible. The girls and guys he went out with knew him as Red, the champion, not as Red, the boy from Pallet Town. They were infatuated with the title. Not with the human. In restaurants they usually ordered the most expensive meal on the menue and expected him to pay.

Red had to admit, he had enjoyed the attention at first. Hey, he had been a sixteen year old boy. Of course he had wanted to be famous. He had neglected everything that was important for him. His mother, his pokemon, battling, training, he had even ignored Green whenever he came by, and stopped responding to his calls and texts. He had been introduced to his absolute heroes- actors, big trainers, champions from other regions. But all he got from that was how many first world problems the privileged society members had and complained about every day, and how much unhealthy and uneccessary pressure they put on themselves to look good. Soon he realized that his heroes weren't the strong, admirable trainers he had looked up to- they were superficial, whiny and selfish. And as the days passed, he started wondering who was even real and who was fake, and what he had gained from being the Champion. It had been his biggest life goal, and now, at only sixteen years old, he had achieved it. What now? What had changed? How had it benefited him or the world? He was still the same person as before, just more materialistic, and a lot more bored. The people around him were still people, just a lot greedier and a lot more dishonest. Homeless people were still homeless. Hungry people were still hungry. Every day became the same; flashy cameras taking his eye sight until he finally escaped them, news articles about things he had supposedly said appearing at his door step every day, fans approaching him and asking him for autographs. And with every day, he felt more and more miserable. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, or what his purpose was.

To avoid fake press, he talked less and less, which got him even more hate in news articles, calling him rude and reminding him that he would be nothing without his fans. Getting out of bed in the morning became a struggle. He felt guilty about not paying attention to the hopeful people who looked up to him the way he used to look up to the actors and famous trainers, and he wondered if these people would be just as disappointed if they got to know him as he was when he met his heroes. Not disappointing anyone became his obsession, but then, he couldn't help but disappoint people because they all had different expectations. Some wanted him to stop and take photos, and when he did, others gave him this look that said _You aren't that special, get off your high horse_. He wondered how the other champions dealt with all of this, but then he remembered that other champions weren't as famous as he was. Mainly because he was the youngest, and because he had, on top of that, defeated an entire crime organisation himself. One day, the day he officially resigned, he woke up to eggs being thrown at his window. When he looked out, he saw a bunch of protestors, yelling into the cameras: "There's people, actual heroes, who save other peoples' lives! Police officers, firefighters, Nurse Joys. And we're paying all our attention to some idiot who managed to knock out the Pokemon of some other idiots. Bravo!"

Then he had spotted Green, and it was only the second time he had legit seen him furious, shouting at and arguing with the angry mob, only to be shoved away and insulted. He was the only person who had defended Red, and he remembered that he had never thanked him for that.

From this day on, hating on Red, the Champion, became mainstream. More and more people joined the "Anti-Red"-crowd. And even though everyone seemed to have forgotten that he had defeated Team Rocket and saved millions of Pokemon and people, it hit him because they were right; right now, he wasn't doing anything useful; he was just laying around, enjoying his privileges and the fame, and all he did to achieve this was fighting against pokemon. What really was his purpose? Why did he of all people deserve to be famous? He felt bad, felt ashamed for being in the spotlight for so long, while other people suffered alone, or did heroic stuff without being celebrated for it. That's when he started giving his money away to homeless people, and immediately the headlines in the news papers read "Champion Red tries to save his reputation by feeding the homeless", which got him even more hate because he "used homeless people for his reputation". He tried to go on a popular talkshow that had tried to invite him for months, so he could make himself seem likable and make it clear that he didn't care about the fame, but the moderator just asked him about his love life . When Red finally did get to say what he wanted to say, the moderator of the show frowned, leaned forward with a stony expression and asked "So what you're saying is, you hate that you are loved too much? Don't you think that's...kind of a luxury problem, and...pretty ungrateful?".

The audience started clapping and hooting, and Red was so taken aback that he stopped talking altogether. He stared at the moderator for a good five minutes with a blank expression on his face, even after the audience calmed down again, then he calmly, casually got up from his seat and silently left, ignoring the murmurs of the people in the room. That was the last time the public eye had ever seen Red, the legendary trainer, the young boy from Pallet who had been broken by fame, and who spent the entirety of the next three years on a snowy mountain to meditate and think about his right to exist, his reason to exist, and how broken a world was that paid more attention to his love life than people like Demitri, an old homeless man he met who came back from war severely wounded only to find out that his wife had moved on and found a new man and his young kids didn't know him anymore.

He trained every day, and his pokemon kept getting stronger. The days repeated themselves, and the only question that occupied his mind when he saw his pokemon grow and fight was "What for? What for? What for? What for?"  
And yet he continued. Because it was...fun. It was who he was. But...what for? Why? What did he do for the world? How could he help the world? Why did he, of all people, have to be famous?

Then, one year later, it was Green who found him here, and this was the third time in his life Red had seen him angry. Oh god, had he been angry! He had shouted at Red, grabbed his shoulders and shook him, because how _dare _he just leave everyone without a word, and did he even _realize_ how hurt and worried his mother was, and did he _know_ that the police had been searching for him? He had even brought a news article with the headline "Champion Red stays missing", and at the sight of the hated gossip magazine, Red had wordlessly crumpled the piece of paper up, threw it in Green's face and silently gestured for him to leave with an icy stare. To Green's credit, he left immediately, still with death in his eyes, but he respected it. "Wait till your mother hears about this!", he whined before climbing on the back of his Charizard and flying away. He came back the next day, calmer this time, asking Red why he left. And after he realized that Red wouldn't talk, he left and came back the next day too. And the day after that. And Red didn't complain. Neither outwardly, not inwardly. In fact, he had been relieved when Green had started visiting him after a year of loneliness. Green always brought food from Red's mom, sometimes warm clothes, and items for his pokemon. And then he filled the silence with words- SO many words- and kept Red's mind busy and distracted. While Green talked, Red always wondered how someone could produce so many words without ever running out of them. After every story of Green, Red thought that had to be it, but there was rarely an end. Green talked about every little thing he experienced every day, and somehow he managed to make it sound interesting, despite the fact that he was talking about himself most of the time.

Those meetings mostly ended with the words "Greetings from your mom, by the way! She wants you back!", and Red wondered if it was really just his mom who wanted him back, or if there was more behind this statement, something that Green didn't want to say out loud because of his stupid pride, so he hid it behind an implication.

After one year of this routine, Green had started challenging Red to battles again. He was the Gym leader of Veridian City now, and he swore he had trained, and this time he would defeat Red. He didn't, of course. Then battling became a routine. Green was a strong and talented opponent- he had always been-, Red had to give him that, and his Pokemon trusted him without any question. These battles became fun, and after he had made up his sadistic little "How can I make Green cry"-game, it became even more fun. It distracted him from all these other thoughts, and finally he had fun again, and felt like he had found his purpose. He was a trainer. Nothing more, nothing less. His title as a champion suddenly meant nothing anymore. There was only him, his pokemon, and Green, and he was eternally grateful for this cocky little jerk who had made his pokemon journey hell on earth.

Soon he realized why he had allowed Green to come up here, and why he would have chased everyone else away: not just because he wanted to beat his ego up and watch his expression falter, but because Green had never treated him different than before his champion title, and he had to write it on the list of things to thank Green for.

Not now though, because now he was looking at that stupid, frustrating smile and heard that stupid, frustrating laugh. "Did I struck a nerve?"

_Yes, yes you did._

"Well, that's your fault, isn't it? No one _told _you to come up here, and your mom _is _worried. I've been trying to be a good substitute-son, but for some reason, she prefers the original. You know, the one who hasn't called or even written her a letter in THREE FUCKING YEARS, or said goodbye to her."

The guilt came back again, even though he knew Green did this on purpose to get him to finally climb down. This time, he might actually succeed.

But he didn't want to give Green that victory. _He _wanted to destroy _him, _and the tables weren't supposed to turn. How did that jerkface always manage to get the upperhand even after he already lost? Only Green. Only Green who would visit him on this snowy nightmare mountain every day for three years just to talk to him. Only Green who was always the winner, even if he was the loser. Only Green who would look good in these _ridiculous _green capri pants and the black button up shirt.

Red crossed his arms in front of his chest, pointedly looking away from Green with his head up and turning his back to him. A clear _No. _

Green sighed, exasperated. It made Red's ear twitch, and he turned his head slightly. Exasperated Green was new. When he saw the face of his old rival, he was even more surprised, because the smug demeanor had disappeared, and for the first time since he lost to Red in the Pokemon league, he truly looked defeated. "Look, Red...it's true that everyone misses you, and...as much fun it was to visit you up here every day, I can't do this much longer."

Worry pressed Red's lungs into a vice, and he completely turned to Green now, looking for any signs of illness in his features, but that's when Green started chuckling. It sounded sad. "No, I'm fine, don't worry."

Relieved, Red breathed out the air he didn't know he was holding, fully turned around and waited for Green to continue.

When he did, his voice sounded wistful. "It's just...I'm getting bored, ya know? Kanto's great and all, but I know every little corner of it now. And being a Gym leader, man... you'd think there would be good challengers, but trainers aren't what they used to be. I already leveled my pokemon down as much as possible so it could be a fair fight, but...goddamnit, Red, they try to use stun spore when my pokemon are already paralyzed! They use Growl a thousand times to get down my pokemons' attack stats, and then they use howler so I have to exchange my pokemon! Who does that, Red? It's so...boring! I almost don't mind losing against you anymore!"

Red made a mental note that he had to find new ways to somehow make Green cry. What? He already admitted he was an asshole.

"I wanna go somewhere else. Travel again. See the world. Maybe start new all over again, with new pokemon in a new region. I don't know. I miss the adventure, and other regions should get the chance to meet the awesomeness that is me too. I've been selfish, keeping it all here in Kanto. But. I guess I'm worried about you. No, really. I don't want you to rot here. Let's be honest, I'm the only person you have left. If I'm gone, no one will bring you food or clothes anymore, and no one will tell your mom you're fine. The choice is your's, but it would be cool if you came with me, at least to Pallet. Seriously. I can't handle my family without a distraction, and you'd be perfect."

Then Green gave his Charizard a revive, hopped on his back and off he went with a "Anyway, smell ya later!", leaving Red fuming because that asshole had made him seriously think about going back to the hellhole of cameras after he had finally found something like peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Green didn't come to visit the next day. Or the day after. Red knew that this was part of the ploy-_see if you can even make it through two days without me, Red- _, but goddamnit, it worked. He had been up here for three years, and one year he had been completely alone, all by himself. Now, after just two days of complete isolation with even Green not visiting him, he didn't know how the hell he had managed to get by back then.

Maybe it was because during the first year, he had been completely oversaturated with human interaction and he just needed to get being all by himself out of his system. After that, he remembered, he had actually felt a little sting of loneliness, until Green found him. Of course Green hadn't come to visit him every single day. One time, a whole week had went by where Green didn't come up here. But that had been okay because at least Red had _known _that he'd be back eventually. Now however, he realized that he had taken the visits of his old rival for granted, and that they wouldn't last forever.

Would he be able to go back to isolation again, knowing that Green was far, far away, discovering the world? Knowing, that no one told his mom he was fine?  
And then he thought about the times he traveled through Kanto. Discovering towns and cities that he had only ever seen on pictures online, finding all kinds of new pokémon, completing the pokédex... he did miss that.  
Traveling, training and battling was his purpose, after all. But then again, during his visits, Green had told him that all of Kanto and possibly even the other regions were still all over the story of the silent Champion who had just disappeared. The news covered this almost every evening. Naturally, there were also several youtube videos with millions of views that showed how he had just wordlessly left the talkshow, and the comments underneath these videos were all very recent.

Countless youtubers had uploaded their conspiracy theories about the situation. According to them, he was controlled by Team Rocket, or the illuminati, and he left before he could say too much. Or he got kidnapped after the show.  
The most popular theory that a guy called Dane Shawson had posted was that he was a robot made by the government, who just didn't know much about human interaction and had a short circuit during the show, and he had taken the clips where he awkwardly stuttered into the camera or behaved a little weird as proof. Also that one embarrassing clip where he had been deep in his thoughts, accidentally knocked a glass of cold water over his lap and jumped up and yelped as if something had just bitten him (a video that also had millions of views. Yep, people couldn't get enough of him).

If Red got down this mountain, he would have to face the media and give answers. He got anxiety at the thought of twelve year old fangirls rubbing themselves over him again (which would be even creepier now that he was twenty years old) and people shoving cameras in his face. And his mom... he was dying to see her, but he was also terrified of her reaction. She was his mother, she would be happy to see him of course, but he would also have to answer why he had done what he had done, why he had never called her, and how he could square the fact that he just left her in her worry and loneliness with his conscience. And the truth was, he didn't have an answer. He had just needed to get out. The pressure of satisfying everyone and living up to his title as the undefeated, very best trainer ever had just become so much that he had went partly insane for a little while, so the one time he didn't think about other peoples' feelings, he had deeply hurt the people he cared about most. Was it worth it? He knew he _did _have to face her and everyone else eventually.

And also, was staying up here forever all alone worth it? Wasn't a little media attention better than dying on a snowy mountain with absolutely no one to keep him company?  
And besides, it had been _three years. _Sure, at first, the paparazzi would be all over him, but soon enough, the people would get tired of him and focus their attention on something more exciting.

Talking about Red, the silent Champion who just disappeared, wouldn't be as interesting anymore if he became Red, the talking ex-Champion who had safely returned.

All these thoughts came to him on the second day he was alone, hoping Green would come back on the third. But he didn't. The days were longer than he remembered with nothing to do. He trained his pokémon, but even that wasn't as exciting alone. He had to admit, he missed Green filling the silence with his words. The auburn haired man had a way of making introverts like him feel comfortable; he gave him space and opportunities to just zone out, but he also gave him the feeling that he wasn't alone. He never felt like Green expected any reactions from him, he just...talked. Would he be able to make it through eternity without hearing Green blabber about unimportant nonsense ever again?

And as he just thought the day was finally over, looked at his watch and realized it was only 2 PM, Red made his decision. He looked at Pikachu, who seemed to notice the change of mind in his trainer. He looked up at Red, trusting, black eyes meeting undecided brown ones.

And then, Pikachu nodded, and Red smiled. "Let's show these assholes", Red mumbled. He waited until it was dark, then he called out Charizard, who stretched and yawned and gave Red a frustrated look.

"Buddy," Red just said and gave him a pat on the long neck. "We're going home."

* * *

_Beep. _

Green's phone announced a new message for about the millionth time.

Every time he hoped it was Red, but it was yet again just his grandpa, writing him countless texts. It was 2 AM, so Oak was _really _impatient.

Green opened the message with casual interest.

"Green. I already told you to come here three days ago and you haven't even answered me yet. I expect you to be in my lab by 10 Am TOMORROW."

Green rolled his eyes and shut his phone off. The Great Professor Oak always said "Jump" and expected Green to ask "How high?", but he was growing tired of it.

If his grandfather so urgently needed him, he would go there eventually, but he would do it on his own terms. The old man needed to realize that his life didn't revolve around him and his dreams.

Green sighed, propping his head up on his hands while he looked into the darkness outside his window. The cool air stroked his face. He tried not to focus on the fact that he was despereately hoping to see the flame of a Charizard in the sky. How pathetic was that! Sometimes he was scared that he was following the example of everyone else when it came to perceiving himself. To the people, he was either "Green, the grandson of the famous Samuel Oak", or "Green, the friend of the famous Champion Red". And here he was, barely even feeling like he existed anymore without having Red around. Was his self esteem really that low? Did he really define himself as "Red and Green" too?

His analytical mind had tried to find the source of this, had tried to reach every corner of his brain to figure out why he felt like he was nothing when Red wasn't here. Maybe it was because the only time people approached him was to ask him about Red. Maybe it was because his grandfather barely even looked up anymore when he visited him in his lab because he knew he didn't have Red with him. Maybe it was because even Red's mom, Delia, who had always treated him like her own son, had suddenly grown distant after her actual son wasn't here anymore.

He had visited her every day and told her about Red, and while he did, her eyes were curious and alert. But after he finished his report, she always looked away warily and said "Thank you, Green" with a tired voice.

The first time this happened, he hadn't recognized the silent "Please leave now" behind these words, so he had cheerfully started blabbering about unimportant stuff again without really realizing it, like he always did. Back in the day, when everything was still okay, she had looked at him with fond amusement whenever he did this, because this was just what he did. He _talked. _When he talked, he didn't have to think. Sometimes, he truly didn't notice just how much he was talking; he just did it. Talking was almost like breathing at this point.

But on this particular day, she suddenly snapped, with tears in her eyes: "For god's sake, Green, can you stop talking for _one second?_ I don't care that you caught a new kind of pokémon! I don't care that you won another battle! And for the love of god, stop acting like you're my son! You're not! If you want to do something useful, bring me my _real_ son back! You _know _where he is, why aren't you _doing _anything?"

He flinched as if she had just slapped him, and she might aswell have. Delia had never talked to him like this. She had been the closest thing he had ever had to a parental figure; on mother's day, he made her cards, and when she went on vacation with Red, she always took him and Daisy with her. She had given him kisses on his cheek and fawned over him every time he visited Pallet Town, asking him if he was eating right and if he was taking care of himself, and on his birthdays, she had baked him his favourite cake and bought him presents. And now, while she snapped at him, she looked at him like she was sick of him. Just like everyone else. After Red was gone, magically, everyone had lost interest in Green.

He could tell she felt sorry immediately after she said it, but her mind was too busy with more important stuff to actually feel bad, so she just said: "I mean... it's really a lot to handle right now. I need time for myself, okay, sweetie?"

Maybe it was pathetic, but the way she called him "sweetie" made him feel all warm again and calmed him down. He knew he was grasping for straws and soaked up every bit of affection he could get, and he was absolutely sure that it was unhealthy, but what could he do?

_You're fine. She still loves you, it's okay._

He grinned at Delia and shrugged, putting on his mask again. "Tsk, it's okay! I have better things to do anyway!"

"Green...", Delia had said with a sad expression on her face. She knew him better than anyone else, and she was sure that she had just added another brand new scar to the already impressive collection in his broken soul. His smug demeanor was nothing but an attempt to deny reality, and to not show anyone including himself just _how _broken he felt inside. She hated herself for contributing to his unhealthy mindset.

"I'll visit him again tomorrow," Green said as if nothing had happened. "See you then!"

"Green," Delia said again, and he turned around with his usual smile and just said "Yeah?"

She sighed. "I love you, okay? Please forget what I just said, I didn't mean it. I'm just really, really stressed right now. Please understand, Red is missing and I...I think I'm going insane with worry. I'm very grateful that you come here every day and tell me how he is. When you have children, you'll understand."

"Of course!", Green said, chipper as ever, and set off to Veridian City, still wearing his mask and whistling on the whole way back. From then on, things had become weird between him and Delia.  
He was careful not to say the wrong things or to talk too much, didn't want to lose her precious affection. So he left whenever he heard her tired "Thank you, Green", and came back the next day, hoping to find her in a better mood.

Green sighed again, trying not to think about Delia or his grandfather, and especially not about Red, the golden boy who was evidently better than Green in every way.

He was tired of waiting and brooding. Tomorrow he would leave for Oak's lab, and after that, he would leave, period. Red could go to hell if he was that stubborn.

And the best thing about all of this was that disappearing wouldn't even be a selfish action; once Red came back, everyone would forget about Green. No one would silently sit at the kitchen table, wondering when and if he would come back and waiting for someone to bring news about him. No one would snap "Goddamnit, can you stop talking? You're not my kid! Green is my kid!"

Maybe they'd be sad for a week or so, but after that, life would go on for everyone. And while they would all be fawning over Red, he, Green, would train and become the actual most powerful trainer in the world. He would defeat every Elite 4 in existance, would fill up the pokédex with data of pokémon from all over the world, and eventually, he would beat Red, and everyone would finally start realizing how talented he was.

But then again, there was that one thought that was stronger than any other: _You'd have to do this without Red. _

And that thought stung. He hated how everyone preferred Red over him, but he didn't hate Red. Red, his only friend in the world.  
That's when tears welled up in Green's eyes and he buried his head in his arms as he did so often when he sat here, alone in his little one room apartment. His only friend. He really was pathetic.

* * *

Charizard knew exactly where to go. The giant dragon was visibly excited about finally leaving MT. Silver, doing loopings and teasing Red by almost throwing him off his back.

But Red wasn't scared; he trusted Charizard, and he truly felt alive for the first time in four years. He had been hesitant at first, but now, leaving this god forsaken place was the only thing in his mind. The adrenalin at the hands of his rushed decision did the rest. He was Red. The most powerful trainer in Kanto. Hell, in the _world _even. He wouldn't bow in front of the media. To hell with the paparazzi! He would just go with Green, leave Kanto, travel the world and see and discover new places and pokémon. He would leave the people here behind with their witchhunt mentality, he'd compete with Green again, he'd absolutely destroy him in battles, and maybe he would finally get to break down one or two of the protective walls his old rival had built up around him. The thought of it all made his legs twitch with excitement, and as Charizard did another looping, Red let out a loud "WHOHOOOOO!", which was accompanied by a happy growl of Charizard and his Pikachu excitedly yelling "PIKA PIKA!"

They were about to conquer the world, and nothing could stop them. Red's heart was beating with excitement, and he felt insane as he started laughing like a little child on the playground, but also, he really didn't care.  
He couldn't wait to see Green's stupid face.

The same scenarios repeated themselves over and over in his head. How he'd surprise Green on his way to Pallet Town by letting Pikachu give him a little shock. How he'd throw eggs at his window to wake him up.  
How he'd dress up as a Team Rocket member and scare him.

At this point, he did wonder if he should get his brain checked out, but come on, scaring Green, that cocky jerk with the giant ego, _was _fun.

When he saw the first lights of Veridian City, Green's home, his grin grew wider. He hadn't ever visited Green here, after all, he had moved out from home while Red was on MT. Silver, but he had told him his adress once, and Red could only guess that it was near the gym.

_Leafstreet 16, 4th floor. _

Red had to fly low to see the street signs, and he was glad that it was so late already. No one was out on the street in this little backwater, and all the lights were already out. All but one.

"Charizard, fly a little bit lower", Red said quietly with a rough voice he hadn't been using in years. It sounded strange in his ears, deeper than it used o be. He saw a sign. Leafstreet.

_"Nice", _he quietly cheered, and Charizard followed the street until they came to the house where the light was still on. Green was the biggest workaholic Red had ever seen, so he was absolutely sure that this was his house. And sure enough, the house number was 16, and the light on the fourth floor was on.

Red spontaniously decided to scare Green by having Charizard suddenly appear by his window and spit out a flame, and he grinned at the thought. But when he reached the window and saw Green inside, he let go of that idea immediately. A weird emotion came up in him. Green was sitting at his desk directly in front of the window, his face buried in his arms, and seemingly fast asleep. His desk was a mess, and four giant books were scattered over the floor. They looked like they had been thrown there. The rest of the room didn't look better. Piles of laundry were all over the ground, the bed was so full of items and objects that Red had to wonder when was the last time his rival had used it.

As calm and collected as Green was on the outside, as messy was his home. Green really was an incurable workaholic. He had more in common with his grandfather than he knew.

Red stared at him for a while, trying to identify the emotion that had welled up inside of him, then he decided to not wake him. But he definitely would get a reaction out of Green tomorrow, of that, he was sure.

He climbed on Charizard's neck and let himself and Pikachu into the room before calling the huge dragon back into the ball. As he looked around, he noticed that the only part of the tiny apartment that was clean was the kitchen.

He flinched as Green sighed and shifted a little in his sleep, his legs twitching every now and then as if he was running away from something even in his dreams.

"Wow, he really has been letting himself go, huh?", he whispered to Pikachu, and it answered with a sad "Pika."

He hadn't even noticed any changes in Green whenever he visited him. He had always seemed so happy and excited and cocky and superior. The only negative emotion he ever showed was annoyance or anger, nothing else, and Red was a bit disappointed that after they had been knowing each other for like eighteen years now, Green still only ever showed him that side of him. The happy, mean, smug side that always wanted to tear him down. Just once, he wanted to get into Green's head and see if he was really that much of a robot, or if he actually had feelings. He had to! Red had seen it after defeating him at the Indigo Plateau. Green had looked devastated, and after his grandfather had basically yelled at him (which, by the way, had been aired on live television with millions of people watching and cheering), he had looked broken. Literally broken. It had become a meme online, so in a way, Green _was _famous now, but he had become a laughing stock for it, which had just made the walls around him thicker and stronger. Red had seen the sadness once, and never again. After his defeat, Green had become even more obnoxious and cocky.

Red sighed and bent down to pick one of the heavy looking books up- an encyclopedia about pokemon and battling- when suddenly he heard a loud aggressive growl and felt a sharp pain on his arm. _Should've seen this coming, _Red thought grimly. Biting into his arm was an Evee; small, but determined not to let go. It hurt like hell, but he showed no reaction as he raised his arm to be at eye level with the little cat like pokémon.

"Hey, buddy. I missed you too."

The response was an angry growl. Worriedly, Red looked at the desk, and as he had feared, he now looked into confused green eyes, wide awake and startled.

_Not the kind of reaction I've been aiming for, but still something, _Red thought. It didn't feel satisfying though; if Green worked nearly as much as it seemed, he desperately needed sleep, and as much as Red loved teasing him, he didn't want to fuck with his apparently already bad health.

One positive thing was that the disheveled, sleepy look really suited Green. _Pretty cute, _Red had to admit while bracing himself for whatever was to come now.

He could see the excitement in Green's eyes, but only for a second.

"How did you get in here?", he nagged. "I have a _door bell, _you know."

Red shrugged, ignoring the trails of blood starting to run down his arm because Evee _still _hadn't let go, and Green _still _hadn't told her to. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Good job, doofus," Green said, then he took his sweet time yawning and stretching (exposing his flat stomach for seconds Red would have enjoyed if his arm didn't feel like it was getting stabbed right now) before finally and casually telling Evee to stop biting him.

Reluctantly, the tiny pokémon let go and shot him and Pikachu one last deadly look. Evee, like her trainer, had never really gotten over the rivalry between Green and Red, despite Pikachu's attempts to make friends with her.

"You shouldn't leave your window open," Red said while inspecting the bite marks on his arm.

Green just blankly looked at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, how inconsiderate of _me _to leave _my _window open. I understand that makes it incredibly hard for freaks like you to resist breaking in."

Red shrugged. "Just worrying about your safety. You're not exactly a Nobody around here."

"It's okay," Green said. "Evee just showed you what we do with creeps."

"Touché."

They awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds. They weren't on top of MT. Silver anymore, and Green didn't have to fill the silence with words unlike the times Red had been silent all the time. They both had so much to say, and yet both of them were speechless, which was a memorable moment because Red had never seen Green speechless before.

Apparently that happened when he was surprised. Red wondered if Green had to mentally prepare himself every time he was about to bend someone's ears.

It was amazing what a changed environment could do to people. Red knew he wasn't even supposed to be in here, and Green hadn't expected Red to suddenly stand in his bedroom at 3 AM.

"I like your voice," Green said now. "Haven't heard it in a while."

Red shrugged again. He felt stupid for doing that because surely it was already the third time in a time span of like two minutes. "Was about time, you know..."

Green nodded, but didn't really look at Red, and the silence that followed made Red regret coming here. This was not how he had imagined it all to go down.

Why was talking to Green so awkward all of a sudden? Was there an MT. Silver Green and an MT. Silver Red who lived in some alternate dimension and had to start from zero again now after being back in town?  
Maybe it was because Green didn't know how to assess Red now? The circumstances were definitely different, and the power dynamic between the two had clearly changed aswell. Back on MT. Silver, Green had had all the power; he could leave forever if he wanted, or he could come back and keep Red company. But down here, it was Red who was likely to disappear again, being sucked back into the show business and forgetting about Green. Green didn't know his intentions, and how things would go on from now, and what role he played in Red's life now. As Red realized that, he remembered how he had started ignoring him at a certain point because meeting other famous people had been a priority, and he also remembered how Green had still called him and defended him. He wanted to slap himself.

Also, on MT. Silver, Red had been... just Red. Red without all his other friends, without relations to his mother or Green's grandfather, without his previous dreams and ambitions. Now he was suddenly Red, the celebrity again, with his past and present surrounding him constantly. Red realized that there really was an MT. Silver Red and a Kanto Red.

He breathed out, not realizing he had been holding his breath in the first place. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, which made Green frown.

"Although I do believe you have a long list of reasons to apologize for, you need to be more specific, Red."

"For being an ass," Red admitted. "I...kind of lost touch with you after I became...I don't want to say famous...but yeah, that's what happened."

"I know. You owe me," Green said, half joking.

Red was relieved to see the mischievous glint back in his old rival's face. He felt his tense muscles relaxing, but was still unsure of how it would go on now.

"I could tidy up that bed of your's. The desk doesn't look like an appealing sleeping place to be honest."

"Well, if you had _announced _yourself like normal people do, I would have had time to tidy up the whole room, but _no..."_

"What is all of this, Green?", Red asked while looking around. "This..is where you live?"

"Well, gee, sorry you don't like it. Didn't feel like putting _live, laugh, love _tattoos and flower pictures on my wall. Not my style."

"It's just not what I expected. This apartment _so _isn't you."

"Then what kind of apartment would be so me?"

"A big one", Red said and was surprised at how fast the answer came. "To fit your entire ego in there, and the huge hand gestures you always make when you talk."

Green made a "Tsk" sound, and Red continued. "And I thought it would be tidier, being that you're such a perfectionist control freak. And, I don't know, it looks so...bland. Come on, Green, you're fruitier than me and I'm openly gay."

"I'll be sure to call the 'Home improvement' team to cover an episode with your decor tips. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear your ideas."

"Seriously though, what's up with this?"

Now it was Green's turn to shrug. "I'm rarely here to be honest. This is just my sleeping place."

"Well, your only piece of furniture that facilitates sleep is currently unaccessible, so..."

_"Hey, _you just came back after three years without ever calling or asking about anyone, you have no right to be snooping around my business!", Green said in that naggy tone of his that indicated he was trying not to sound too harsh.

Red raised his hands in defense and said "Well, _sorry"_ , which made Green grin.

"Well, if it's that important to you: you just got here at the wrong time. I usually do use my bed. Not just for sleep, obviously, I mean, look at me."

Red smiled and rolled his eyes, but in his head, he had to admit that Green had a point there.

"I'm just busy right now. Running a gym comes with lots of paper work, many people don't know that. Today was a lot to chew on, so, yeah."

_"Sure."_

Silence again.

Then Red said: "I'm gonna tidy your bed now, you can't just sleep at your desk, that's got to be unhealthy. I'll just sleep on the floor I guess, and tomorrow we'll go to Pallet together."

"Whoa there, who said you're staying here?"

"I did, weren't you listening?"

Green bit back another grin. Red was definitely back. He watched as his old rival picked the items up from his bed and carelessly threw them on the ground.

"You call _that _cleaning?"

"I said I was gonna tidy your bed so you can sleep. If you want me to be all neat at 3 AM, I expect you to pay me."

Green let out a frustrated sigh. Yep. Red was back.

When the bed was finally free, Green made a point of making himself as comfortable as possible in there. "Ahhhh, how nice it is to sleep in a warm, soft bed. Must suck for you since you have slept on stones for the past few years."

Red didn't answer for several seconds, then he said: "At least I still have my dignity. _You _fell asleep at your desk. And you drool and snore by the way."

The revolted grouching sounds coming from Green's bed were music to Red's ears, and soon he fell asleep, knowing he had made the right decision of coming here.

* * *

When Green woke up the next morning, he had almost forgotten about last night. When he remembered, he thought it was a dream at first, but there Red was, on the blue carpet floor seemingly without a care in the world.  
It had got to be uncomfortable as hell, but Red lay there, completely relaxed and rhythmically breathing in and out, his mouth slightly hanging open. It was a sight you don't see often. Before him lay the champion of Kanto, the most powerful trainer in the world, and at the same time, his childhood friend, vulnerable and unaware of his surroundings and my god, was this a beautiful view.

Green could have watched him sleep forever, his heart jumping joyfully in his chest. He stripped all the implications behind this feeling away and just enjoyed it without thinking too much. This feeling had often appeared when he looked at men, and he just took it for what it was without ever acting on it. He had played with the thought of being gay for a few years now, but then again, he really, _really _liked boobs.

His heart especially did weird things every time he saw Red, but he had never dared to go _there _with his mind. Red was his friend, nothing more. Besides, he didn't even know what it was, his weird appreciation for the male body even though he'd had girlfriends in the past who he had been romantically and sexually interested in. He knew that some people were attracted to both genders, but this was also a place he didn't want to let his mind wander to.  
What would that do to his image?

It was another reason why he admired Red. He had never cared. When they were fourteen years old, Green had pointed out a pretty girl to him once, and Red had shrugged and casually said "Eh, I'm not really into girls."

"What are you into then?", Green had asked, confused. The concept of homosexuality had still been foreign in his mind back then.

Red had looked at him like he was an alien. "Um...guys...?"

And Green had answered: "Oh. Cool."

And that was it. They never talked about it again and Green realized that it didn't change literally anything between them, so he really didn't care. When Red became famous, he still went out with guys in public, holding hands and even kissing them in front of anti-gay protestors.

It was weird; on the one hand, Red had tried so hard to be liked by people, but on the other hand, he had rebelled against these idiots with too much time on their hands _publically._

But that's how Red was. If Green had to describe him with one word, he would say _contradiction. _Red was a walking paradox. On the one hand, he preferred silence and being by himself, on the other hand, he was the center and the light of every party. On the one hand, he was really worried about what people thought of him, but on the other hand, he emitted so much self confidence that if he gave every single person in Kanto a piece of it, no one would ever feel insignificant anymore. On the one hand, he hated talking, but on the other hand, he was one of the most eloquent and philosophical people he had ever met. On the one hand, he had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong and really cared about people and injustices, and on the other hand, he didn't think twice about packing his things and leaving for three years without saying a word to anyone.

Green let himself fall back on his pillow, finally tearing his gaze off of Red's sleeping form, and grabbed his phone to check if any more messages had appeared.

Indeed, three texts and one missed call. This was unusual, even considering how impatient Oak was.

He clicked on the messages.

2:03 AM: "Green, I can _see _that you read my messages."

2:10 AM: "I will not tolerate this ignorant behaviour of your's any longer."

3:00 AM: "Well, I assume you went to sleep, but I expect an answer from you tomorrow morning first thing you wake up, and it better be 'I'm on my way'".

Green groaned. He was glad Red would come with him. At least that would distract the old man a little. Or not. Most likely not. He could already hear his grandfather's voice: "Why aren't you more like Red?"

And he already had the bitter answer ready: "I will more than gladly disappear and not answer you for three years compared to these three days."

Before he could start fuming and obsessing over his bitterness, he heard Red shifting and taking a deep breath, and when he looked at him, he was rubbing his eyes and then sighing contently.

Pikachu was waking up aswell- totally in tune with his trainer, as always- and stretched with an adorable "Pikaaaaa"- sound.

"Morning," Red mumbled sleepy. He did look pretty cute. _No homo though. _Green chuckled silently at that ridiculous thought before he replied "Yeah, same to you."

"So, what's the plan?", Red asked, his deep voice still sounding a little nasal because of how tired he still was.

"Better get up and leave for Pallet now so we can be there in fifteen minutes, tops," Green said. "I swear, Gramps is about to come here and rip my head off."

He saw Red go pale. The taller man sat up with shock written all over his face. Evidently, he had forgotten about Pallet Town.

Yesterday's euphoria and adrenaline had worn off, and now Red had to deal with the uncomfortable part of his return: facing his mother.

Green looked at him without sympathy. He had left on his own free will, now he had to suffer the consequences. "Come on, dude, your mom wants you back. She'll be mad, but most of all, she'll be happy you're back."

Red kneaded his hands and looked at his lap. "I...maybe coming down here wasn't that good of an idea."

Green felt anger and fear flash through him like lightening, two way too familiar feelings. Seconds ago everything had been fine, and now they were going back to square one; Green trying to convince him to come back, and Red being a stubborn piece of crap. In one motion he jumped out of bed and stomped towards Red. "No. You do _not _get to do this. You don't get to come back into my life down here and then have second thoughts about it. I won't let you."

Red looked up at Green, trying to hide how shocked he was at the strong reaction, but not quite managing to.

"You're twenty years old now, Red. You can't hide and run away forever. Grow up. You fucked up, now fix it. That's what adults do."

Anxiously he waited for a response. This had been harsher than he had intended, and now that his frustration calmed down a little, he felt like he had overreacted. And the only thing he had probably reached with it was scaring Red off once and for all.

But Red just bit his lower lip, looked back at his lap, and then said: "Okay."

Green let out a sigh of relief. "Good, good...I guess... we should just leave right now then." _Before you can second guess it again, _he silently added. He couldn't bear the thought of Red disappearing again after he was so close to have him back.

Red nodded grimly, and they silently left the apartment. Green locked the door, then he lead him down an old, creaking staircase, and when they exited the building and called out their Charizard and Pidgeoto to fly them back, Red hesitated. "I'm scared."

Green nodded. "You'll manage. Your mom will jump for joy, and gramps will be too busy criticizing me to pay much attention." He knew that wasn't true- his grandfather would likely not pay _any _attention on him while Red was there-, but maybe it would cheer him up.

They got on their pokemons' backs and took off to the sky. Green looked at Red when the first buildings of Pallet Town showed up, and he saw a slight smile play around his lips, his tension easing off a little.

This was home. This was everything he knew and loved. Why had he been worried?

They landed in the front yard of Red's house, where Delia was currently busy with yard work, her movements melancholic and robotic.

She barely turned around when she heard them, only said "Hello, Green" with a sad voice that pained Red.

He cleared his throat.

"Hi, mom."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hi, mom."

Red felt like he had said these words an enternity ago, but it couldn't have been more than two or three seconds. The silence that followed made him forget he had a heartbeat and that he had to breathe to keep it beating, and everything around him suddenly seemed to move in slow motion. Especially his mother, who had frozen in her spot, gasping for air. He would later describe this as the longest moment of his entire life. Practically, every reaction was possible now. Crying, laughing, feigned indifference, violence... he didn't have time to decide which would be the worst one.

Then she spun around and stared at Red for what seemed like another eternity, her eyes wide open, her hands clasped over her mouth. He had almost forgotten how much he had missed her, but now all he wanted to do was to feel her motherly hug again and cry in her arms like a baby.

She looked different, even though it had only been three years. He could have sworn she used to be bigger, and it seemed like she lost more weight than it was healthy for her. Her face was marked with worry lines. Some of her hair was grey, and her eyes (already watering) had lost their joyful spark. His guilt almost outweighed his happiness. He knew that he was responsible for this.

"Oh my god," Delia whispered with a shaking voice, tears already falling. She dropped her watering can and the tiny rake as she swiftly and almost reverendly walked over to him, as if he was an illusion that would disappear if she went too fast.

As she grabbed his face into her hands, she looked like she could barely believe that this was real. He tried a smile, but he was too overwhelmed and nervous. He so badly wanted to hug her, but he wasn't quite sure how angry she was. And then she actually started crying, sobbing "You're home!" as she pulled him into her arms so tightly that you would think she never ever wanted to let him go again. And he hugged her back, trying to hide his tears as best as he could, but damnit, if a grown man couldn't cry for his mom, what else could he cry for? "You're home, you're home," she kept repeating, interrupting the hug every now and then to inspect and touch his face, only to pull him back into her arms seconds later, and he was sure they had been standing here for over five minutes already, but that was fine with him.

When she finally let go once and for all to look at him yet again, there was so much undeserved love and relief in her face that he wanted to kick himself. She stroked his cheek with her right hand.

"This isn't a dream, right? You're really here, right?" She didn't even let him answer because she was already squeezing him again. "Oh, my boy. My Red! I can't believe you're back."

He took a breath to start his apology that he had been going over and over in his head ever for literally months, but Delia interrupted him: "You don't need to say anything right now." She wiped away her tears, keeping her look fixated on his face as if she didn't want to waste a single second not looking at him. "I'm just happy you're back. You can explain later. Please just let me have this moment."

She snuffled and took a tissue from her pocket to clean her nose. "You have no idea how often I imagined this moment, I...I didn't think it would ever actually happen, and especially not today." She blew her nose again. "When I woke up this morning, everything was so normal and I...I thought on special days, you should feel that they're going to be special, you know?" Delia shook her head and wiped her eyes again before taking a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, I'm blabbering. I feel so confused right now. Oh, Red!"

Another hug. Red felt a million pounds lighter. He had thought this was gonna be a disaster, and he definitely would have deserved a diferent reaction. Delia took a few steps back to properly look at him. "Dear, what happened to your arm?"

Red looked where her eyes had fallen and realized that he hadn't washed the blood off after Evee had bitten him. „Evee bite," he sheepishly said.

„Maverick creatures," she noted, then she looked at him again and said: „Oh my, but you have grown so much." She sniffled now. "Last time I saw you, you were as tall as me, and now I have to look up when I'm talking to you." Then she sobbed again. "You've become a man! And such a handsome one, and I missed all of it, you jerk."

She jokingly slapped him up his head. Even in moments like these, she was exactly how he remembered her, and he had never loved her more. Now he was the one who pulled her into a hug, and after endless I Missed Yous and I'm Sorrys they had finally calmed down to a point where talking normally was possible, and only then Red remembered that Green was still standing there, next to his Pidgeoto, with that wide, smug smile on his face. He expected him to do something for this moment totally inappropriate, like bragging how he was the one who convinced Red to come down for example, but to his surprise, he let him have this moment without commenting about it. In fact, he actually looked a bit shy. This was new. So many things about him were new. How long had he been gone again?

"Let's go inside," Delia said, drying her face with another tissue. "We have so much to talk about."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Green said now, grandiloquently as if he had been adressed or invited, "but this mushy stuff really isn't for me and gramps is waiting. You'll have to do without me."

He turned around in one quick terpsichorean movement and threw in a "Smell you later!" before he went on his way. Red looked after him, fondly shaking his head. Green had a way of being tactful by being absolutely obnoxious. He wanted to let Red have this moment with his mother alone, but he couldn't do that without making a big deal of himself and reminding everyone of his existance.

Green was about to cross the street in front of the yard, when to both of their surprise, Red's mom ran after him.

"Wait, Green!" When she reached him, she pulled him into a warm hug.

"Thank you." She kissed his cheek before squeezing it. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you."

"Huh?"

"You took care of him, and you brought him back. Seriously: thank you. I owe so much to you."

"Um, I...no...problem?"

Smiling, she gave him a look of sincerity and squeezed his face one last time before returning to her son. "Send your grandpa my best wishes! And tell him the both of you are invited to dinner tomorrow! I'll cook your favourite meal!"

"Uh...thanks, Delia!" Then he was on his way, and Delia turned to Red with an only half-jokingly stern look on her face and her hands on her hips. "And now", she said, "I'm ready for apologies and explanations."

* * *

When Red stepped inside the small house, he couldn't believe how little had changed. The familiar scent of his mom's vanilla candles mixed with the wood from the fire place sent him back three, no, _ten _years, and he felt himself beecome even calmer.

But at the same time, being here was strange. He had grown up here, and his host was his mom, yet he felt like he needed to ask for permission to sit down. Despite the way she had welcomed him, he felt like a stranger in this house.

She noticed his hesitation and pointed to one of the chairs. "Sit", she said. "I'll make you tea."

Red thanked her, then he took the time to look around his old home. Not a single object had moved from its original place. If he had to point out a difference, it was the fact that everything seemed a hell of a lot cleaner and neater.  
He remembered the only times his mom had become _this _accurate with her house work: when she was severely stressed. She had never been the type to just resign and drink tea on the couch when things got tough, instead she tried to distract herself from problems by being productive. Red wondered for how long the house had looked this clean already. When he looked at the table, he noticed that some parts of it were bleached out a little, as if someone had scrubbed a little too often and a little too roughly.

There was another difference, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it right now, and his mom didn't give him much time to think about it because she was already done with the tea and gently put it down in front of him before sitting down.

The euphoria had worn off, and now finally she had time to grapple with the more exhausting emotions. With clear eyes, she looked at her son. "I'm listening."

Her voice still had traces of relief and happiness in it, but also made it clear that she was ready to talk serious and no-nonsense now.

Red looked down at the table. He didn't know where to start. His whole apology speech was suddenly forgotten, and right now, he wished he actually was mute.

After five minutes of not talking, his mom did the part for him. "Red, I'm happy you're back. You don't know what it means for a mother when her long-lost child finally returns to her. I can confidently say that this is the happiest day of my life, right after the day of your birth. But..." Sadly she stared a her fidgeting hands. "You also don't know what it means for a mother when she _loses _her child. I thought you were dead or kidnapped for an entire year until Green, god bless him, finally found you."

Red still didn't say anything because he didn't know what. No amount of Sorrys could ever make up for what he did, and the reasons why he left suddenly seemed silly and insignificant compared to what his mom went through.

"After that, I was relieved, and so mad. I begged Professor Oak and Green to let me get up there, but they wouldn't let me. Pokémon League rules and all that. Apparently there was no way to make an exception, not even if I accompanied one of them. I had two years to let out all my anger. I have imagined myself yelling at you and shaking sense into you just as often as I have imagined myself clasping you in my arms and never letting you go. And during all of that, I had only one question in my mind: Why?"

There was so much hurt in her voice and her eyes now that he felt his shame in the form of physical pain. He squirmed in his chair.

She continued: "You know, in my mind, I was always sure that a good person wouldn't possibly be able to do this to someone they loved. So for the longest time, I wondered if you just weren't a good person, or if you didn't love me enough. But life isn't that black and white, right? I'm sure you had your reasons. And I demand to hear them. You owe this to me."

Her voice had a certain tone whenever she reprimanded Red for what he did. It was quiet and calm, and it almost made him shit his pants every time ever since he was a kid because this voice meant business.  
Seeing it from the new, adult perspective, he suddenly had a new kind of respect for his mother; he had never ever seen her become violent or loud in any way, yet people knew not to mess with her. How did she do that?

Finally, he dared to speak. "I love you, mom. I just...didn't think of that at the time. I mean, _really _think of it. I knew it just like you know today is Monday-"

"It's Thursday."

"Oh. Well, I knew it just like you know today is Thursday, so I wasn't...aware of it I guess. I took you and everything around me for granted."

_"Reasons, _Red. I want reasons, not apologies."

He sighed nervously and stared up at the ceiling. That's when he noticed what was different: his mother had gotten a new lampshade. It was orange and made the room look warmer.

"You got a new lampshade," he noted, and she gave him a deadly look.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I guess..."

He thought about what he wanted to say very carefully. "Do you remember when I was eight years old and won the Kanto writing contest for kids?"

She seemed impatient, so he didn't wait for her answer and quickly continued. "It was in our newsletter and everything. It wasn't a big thing, but for Pallet standards, it was huge, and all the kids in school knew about it. Remember what happened?"

Delia sighed. She remembered. "The teachers gave me a heart attack when they called me and said they couldn't find you."

Red smiled at the memory. "I had hidden in the school's basement all day long and lost track of time. Green found me, just like he did this time."

"Red...what's your point?"

He shrugged. "It was the first time people suddenly started making a big deal out of something that I just liked doing. I loved writing, and suddenly, I was the center of attention for it."

Delia rubbed her temples. She seemed exhausted. "You are constantly the center of attention. I've seen you at parties and family gatherings."

"That's different. At parties, people don't expect anything of you. You don't have to live up to a standard, and you don't need to justify yourself for anything. The only thing you need to do is having fun. And if you're not having fun, you might aswell leave. Being a Champion was fun at first, but after a while, I got tired of it, and I couldn't leave. Also," he continued, "I used to go to parties maybe once a month, that was enough. But as a Champ, I didn't get to catch a break, ever. In the rare moments when the paparrazzi wasn't all over me, there were all these newspapers calling me a terrible person for things I did and for things I didn't do. All these people that came by every day and wanted to battle me...all the news articles...and then the moderator of this damn talkshow...I guess I just...snapped. And the more time passed on that damn mountain, the harder it was to just come back. I would have rather died than go back into the media hell. I know it was selfish."

She was silent for a few seconds, then she quietly said: "Yes, yes it was." Then: "Red, have you...have you ever felt like I put too much pressure on you?"

Surprised, he looked up at her. She was worrying that _she _had done something wrong?

"It's just...I've always had the impression that you were really scared of disappointing people. Whenever you didn't do so well on a test, you apologized and almost _cried."_

Red thought back and clearly remembered it. He himself had often wondered why this was the case. His grandfather in particular had held him to an incredibly high standard, and Green's grandfather was even worse, putting him even above his own grandson.

He was Red, the Golden Boy of Pallet town. The kid who had won a regional writing contest at eight years old even though it was for ten year old kids, the kid who could talk at age 1,6, the kid who was just "such an angel and such a pleasure to have around", the kid who was naturally gifted with pokémon, and everywhere he only ever heard that people loved him for those exact reasons. Would they not love him anymore if his perfect fassade got a little scratch? Would he be worth less as a human if he wasn't a good writer, a good trainer, or a 24/7 nice person?  
Had this been the problem?

"Not you," he finally said. "But others maybe."

She nodded slowly, then shook her head with a sorrowful expression. "I always thought that. I tried my best to make you realize that it's okay to make mistakes, but look where it got me."

"You did great," Red just said, because he didn't know what else to say.

"No. No, Red, I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm upset at you. What you did was selfish and wrong, no matter what you were going through. But I still feel sorry that I couldn't do more for you. All of this must have been so much pressure for just a kid."

"Mom, seriously, none of this was your fault," he assured her, hoping she would believe him. "Really, mom! You're the best mother in the entire universe. I mean, come on, you _still _haven't beaten me into a bloody pulp even though I would _so _deserve it. Other moms wouldn't have so much self control!"

"Patience, young one. We're only just getting to that part."

Red laughed despite the strained situation. He was glad that his mom still hadn't lost her snark even after these troublesome three years.

Delia chuckled too for a second before she got serious again. "I'm gonna prepare dinner for today. Potato stew. Ever since Green told me you were fine, I made sure to always have the ingredients for it in the house in case you came back."

"But I _hate _potato stew."

"Exactly." She got up, but then she hesitated for a second. She put a warm hand on his shoulder. "Don't expect me to forgive you on the spot, Red. I love you more than my life, but this is really a lot to process."

"I understand," Red quickly said. "Can I...is it okay if I...I don't know, stay here? Because I totally understand if you don't want me here for now."

At that, Delia laughed. "You think after three years I let you walk out that door just like that? You're not getting away that easily, young man. You're grounded for eternity."

"But I'm twenty!"

"_Three years_, Red! See it as subsequent punishment."

He groaned. "Aalright..."

"Do you want to go to your old room until dinner is ready? I left everything the same way as it was before."

"Actually, can I go visit Green and professor Oak?"

She shot him a stern look. "_Grounded."_

"I know, I know, but it's for a good cause, really! He needs me to distract his grandpa from him."

Delia's expression suddenly got sad and a little regretful. "Oh... oh, yeah, of course. God, sometimes I do feel sorry for that poor boy. Go support him! And you desperately need to apologize to him too!"

"Already did."

"_Sorry bro lol_ doesn't count. I know how you men talk to each oher. I want a real apology, and I will ask Green about it next time I see him. He deserves it after the treatment you gave him back then."

She had a point there, but he still rolled his eyes. Didn't matter if it was during warzones, icy winters, starvation times, or forest fires; moms would never ever stop being moms.

* * *

Green knew that his welcome in the lab would be nowhere near as pleasant as it was in Red's case, but right now, he didn't care. Calmly he strolled along the street, his steps bouncy and light, his face still feeling warm from where Delia had squeezed it, and his heart feeling full and contented. What just happened was part of a very small collection of moments where he felt like he and his presence mattered. He hadn't even realized how badly he had missed Delia looking at him like...well, like he was actually there. In the past three years, their only interactions had consisted of Green nervously and desperately trying to keep the news about Red short so he wouldn't annoy her, and her tiredly saying "Thank you, Green", making it clear that his presence was neither required nor wanted. Whenever he saw her, the only thing that seemed to radiate from her was "Get away from me".

He had told himself that she didn't hate him, and now he could finally put his restless mind at ease with proof of it. She had genuinely smiled at him, pinched his cheeks, and hugged him. Why had he ever worried?

And it wasn't just that. Red had returned. Officially. He was back. Voluntarily. Green still couldn't believe it; his friend was back. Sure, he had seen him every day on MT. Silver, but that had been _him _visiting _Red, _Red giving no sign of whether he was annoyed or happy to see him. Now that Red was here, maybe their friendship would become less...strained. Less forced. That was, unless Red was soaked up into the show business again and started ignoring him.

Green shuddered for a second, and his good mood seemed to darken, so he quickly shook the thought off. He hadn't been this happy in a long time, and he really didn't want his toxic mind to ruin everything. A pretty girl walked by, and he was glad about the distraction. He smiled and winked at her, and she blushed into a deep dark tone of red while giggling shyly. Cute. Not as cute as Red though. He couldn't help but wonder what it would take to make _him _blush and giggle. Red, the most legendary trainer in the world, awkwardly giggling like an airhead because of some flirty comment he made. Green stifled a chuckle at the thought. Maybe one day he could try to make it a challenge.

Yep, today was a good day. Even the annoying little voice inside his head criticizing him on every step he took shut up for once. He would do anything in his might to keep it that way.

A look at his watch told him it was already 11 AM, and now finally, he involuntarily grimaced. So much for that. Ignoring text messages was one thing, but experiencing the consequences was another. He had hoped he could bring Red with him, but of course that had been a foolish thought. It was only logical he would spend time with his mom first.

When he reached the lab, he hesitated. He really didn't want to face his grandfather right now, but what choice did he have? Now that Red was back, he couldn't and didn't want to just disappear, so he opened the door to find the lab inside abandoned. He frowned. His grandpa didn't just take days off. "Gramps?", he called into the darkened room. "Graaamps!"

For a second, everything stayed quiet, but then he finally heard steps. Based on how they sounded, Green could already tell he was in for a hell of a lecture. And indeed, when Samuel Oak appeared, he did not look amused. In fact, Green had never seen him this angry.

Oak was a calm man, even when he was upset, but right now, he looked like all he wanted to do was strangle Green.

He already braced himself for what was to come now, and hated himself for it. How often had he told himself not to care about what the old man said, to just stay nonchalant?  
Too bad emotions didn't work this way.

"You!" Oak pointed accusingly at Green. "How _dare _you?"

Green just shrugged, although his lung felt like it was pinched into a vice. "I'm happy to see you too, Gramps."

He expected Oak to explode at the snarky answer, but then the weirdest thing happened: he said something _nice. _

"I was _worried _about you! You can't just ignore my texts for three days straight! If whatsapp didn't show that you read my messages, I would have went straight to Veridian City already to check on you!"

Taken aback, Green didn't know what to say for a moment. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this.

"Would you look at that, he's speechless for once. Well, at least that would be one achievement for today," Oak ranted on. "Do you ever think about anyone but yourself, Green?"

Green was indeed speechless. He just stared at Oak with an open mouth. "You're not even gonna say sorry?", Oak scolded.

At that, the fight in him came back. Apologizing to professor Oak, or well, anyone, was his least favourite thing. Usually when you say sorry, even when you truly mean it, it triggers another lecture with personal attacks about how incompetent and idiotic he was, and for some reason, it makes the discussion partner even more angry and dismissive. In his experience anyway. But he was neither incompetent or idiotic, at least that's what he stubbornly told himself despite everything that proved otherwise, so he would definitely not apologize and make himself look like that.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away. "I get busy, I can't just reply to your messages all the time," he mumbled, knowing what a weak excuse this was.

"Oh, one little text would have killed you?"

"You never reply to my messages either!", Green revolted.

"Yeah, but I'm _actually _busy and you don't _actually _have too much of value to say."

Of value, that meant it had to be strictly work related. Not Green's work though, because that wasn't work in Oak's eyes. Personal messages weren't welcome. Professor Oak wanted to hear about pokémon studies, not about how his grandson was doing.

For some odd reason, whenever Daisy texted him, he didn't think of it as a bother to reply her back.

Impatiently, Green sighed. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. "So, why did you want to _urgently _see me? Do you need someone to clean your test tubes?"

"Not today." The fact that Oak hadn't even noticed that Green had been sarcastic and that "cleaning test tubes" was a legitimate reason to him to call his grandson out of his busy work day at the Gym baffled Green. He didn't know why it did, after all, he knew his grandfather, but still.

Oak turned his back to Green now, his hands clasped behind his back and his nose so far up that Green was concerned for his neck. Typical. This old bastard was cockier than him and that was saying something.

"As you know, I'm working on a project together with the Silph Company."

At that, Green did perk up. His grandfather had mentioned this before, but he hadn't told him any details. Understandably, of course. Green knew that telling literally anyone details about this project before it was made public would make the Silph Co. drop the cooperation immediately and never work with him again, and that would, to put it lightly, suck.

When the Silph Co. wants to work with you, you'd be an absolute idiot to say No.  
And you'd be an even bigger idiot if you ruined that chance by angering them and betraying their trust.

If his grandpa told him about this now, and if he needed him for this…that would actually mean he did take Green seriously and trusted him and thought he was competent enough. As much as he was annoyed by the old man, he absolutely couldn't deny that he wanted to make him proud more than anything in the world.

_Pathetic. _

But then Oak continued: "This information somehow got leaked. Do you happen to have any idea who may be responsible for this?"

His vigor wore off. So it actually _was _urgent. He felt like he got three sizes smaller under Oak's stare even though he hadn't even done anything wrong. Three seconds ago he had still thought Oak was about to trust him with secret information, and now the complete opposite was the case. He felt sick.

"I…I don't…I don't know…," he stammered.

"Really? You don't? Green, do you know how many words you say in just one minute? Do you know _how _talkative you are? Do you even know _what _you say when you chatter the way you do?"

Green didn't have time to think about that because the stern look of absolute disappointment in Oak's face was knocking the air right out of his lungs.

He was used to his grandfather being disappointed in him, but this was a new level.

"I…"

"I, I!", Oak mocked. "It's always just 'I' with you, Green, isn't it? I am waiting for an actual answer, and please choose one that considers _my _position, not just whatever excuse will save your sorry butt. _Did you talk? _Because I have no idea how else this information would have gotten out. I'm lucky that the president of the Silph Company let me get away with a warning._"_

Green didn't even need to think about that; no, he did not. He knew he rambled on and on sometimes without even noticing what he was saying, but what he was absolutely sure of was the fact that he was extremely careful about the important stuff.

The things he talked about usually weren't that significant; they were hollow words to fill the silence and to empty his head. His grandfather working with Silph Co. most definitely hadn't been on his list of conversational topics. Hell, his _grandfather _hadn't been on his list of conversational topics! He didn't want to think about the old man more than it was necessary. If he was annoyed when people brought him up in conversations, why would he keep it going by bragging about what great things Oak did?

"No! No, I didn't!", he practically yelled. "I promise!"

Oak gave him a long stare. Green knew what he was doing; he tried to get him to talk by not saying anything. But the trick was old and Green didn't have more to say, so he stubbornly stared back.

Eventually, the professor averted his gaze. "Alright. Then how can you explain this?"

He grabbed a news article from the table and shoved it in Green's face.

"The professor Oak and Silph Co. collaboration; how the professor and the company working together could change our world", Green read out loud.

Oak raised his eyebrows, implying the question "Sooo?"

"I have no idea, gramps! I swear! It definitely wasn't me!"

Oak nodded sternly, still not fully convinced, but willing to let it go for now. The look of disappointment didn't change though. Green decided to ignore it. "We'll come back to that. Trust me." Oh, Green absolutely did trust him on that. "Another reason why I wanted to come you here is that I'm at a vulnerable situation now that this information is leaked. Team Rocket's comeback is rumored. "

Green made a "Tsk" sound. "You don't believe that, do you?"

"I know it from a safe source," Oak said. "And the risk is too high. The project I'm working on is an important one, I have too much to lose. I can't take the chance."

"Is that your way of saying you're scared and need me to protect you?", Green taunted, slightly amused. Seeing Oak in a weak position for once was a pretty rare sight.

"No," the professor said with force, "This is my way of saying that I want to be able to look out for _you."_

"Wha…graaaamps!", Green whined indignantly. "I'm the ex-champion! _I'm the strongest Gym leader in Kanto! _I can look out for myself!"

"You're underestimating Team Rocket, kid."

Green grimaced at the way he said "kid". Other parents used this nickname in a loving way, but with Oak, there was always an undertone that revealed how it was really meant; that Oak thought of Green as a helpless, immature child and that he didn't have what it takes. He only ever used it in a negative context to remind Green of the fact that he was young and inexperienced and not as good as the Great Samuel.

"First of all, don't call me that," he snapped. "Second of all; I _fought _against Team Rocket, and…"

"And it was _Red _who defeated them while _you_ left because it was too big of a challenge for you."

Green flinched. If Oak noticed, he didn't show it. "You know just as well as I do, Green, that you tend to overestimate yourself. I tried my best to raise you with a realistic and healthy sense of self estimation-", Green laughed at that, but Oak still continued, "but you still keep trying to go bigger and bigger, and then you fall and wonder why."

_How else could I possibly get your approval, _Green bitterly thought while staring at the ground. If he didn't go bigger and bigger, there was no possible way to reach Red's standards, and it was clear how highly Oak thought of him.

"I'm leaving," he said now.

"You absolutely aren't," Oak disagreed. "Unless of course you have a death wish."

"Then I'm _definitely _leaving."

"Green…" Oak massaged his temples like he was getting a headache. "You have no idea about the extent of Team Rocket's power. Allegedly, people have been getting attacked by their pokémon. _People, _Green. They have learned. Team Rocket aren't what they used to be. They don't just engage in pokémon fights anymore, they are becoming physical as well. And we don't even know _what _kind of pokémon they have."

"Okay then, gramps, if you're so worried, why isn't _Daisy _here?"

"Because she is on vacation in Alola with Bill."

"Bill? You don't believe that _I _can defend myself against Team Rocket, but _Bill_ can?!"

"I trust Bill."

"Wow, what do you say about me when I'm _not _here?", Green complained.

Bill, Daisy's husband, was the other golden boy of professor Oak. Not quite as much as Red, but definitely more so than Green.

"Did you miss the part where I said they are in Alola, Green?", Oak reminded him. "And also, I haven't told her anything about the project. I don't even think Team Rocket will be interested in her because she's not as famous as you are, and she hasn't been in Kanto for a long time."

"Gee, I wonder why," Green mumbled.

"Drop the attitude," Oak snapped and harshly slapped the back of his head.

Green rolled his eyes again. "Gramps, I have a _job, _do you realize that? What do you want me to do- stay here cooped up in my room while the challengers camp in front of my Gym?"

"Running a Gym can hardly be described as 'work', Green. You do a little bit of paper work, that can be done here too. And the rest of the day you're waiting for people to battle you. Lots of people battle for _fun. _If that's so important for you, then just go to the Gym once a day or something."

"Thanks for explaining my job to me," Green dryly said. He had already given up on telling his grandfather why his job _was _actually exhausting, so he continued: "Yet I'm still a pretty important part of a big and integral system. You seem to forget that challenging the Elite 4 and the Champion is a _big _deal, and Gym leaders are essential for that."

Oak made a scornful face. "I'll tell you what people choose to be Gym leaders: people who weren't good enough to be Champions."

Green took a breath to reply, but Oak cut him off: "And no, you do _not _count. Red defeated you five minutes after you got your title because your pighead didn't treat your pokémon right. And I assure you, if he was still here, he wouldn't choose to be a _Gym leader_."

"No, instead he chose to rot on a snowy mountain away from society!", Green revolted. He wasn't actually mad at Red, but at the same time, he kinda was.

"Boy's taking time to meditate and reflect on himself. That will only make him stronger and better." It was so like Oak to find something good in literally everything Red did. "He's always been such a thinker. You should take a page from his book. You're always so impulsive."

"Noted. See you in three years."

"You're a strong trainer, Green, but you wouldn't last two days on that mountain." When Green was about to give him a piece of his mind at that, he raised his hand. "But we're derailing," he said, matter of factly, and with that, the topic was done. That was also so like Oak; insulting Green and denying him the chance to defend himself. Or starting a heated discussion and ending it so abruptly that Green didn't even have time to process it emotionally. These discussions always ended with Oak having the last word, and with the consensus that Green was basically a failure.

"There's a third reason why I asked you to come here, and I didn't want to tell you over the phone."

Green raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. "Thrill me."

"Someone wants to see you. She came here three days ago. I wanted to tell you sooner, but you didn't respond, so…"

Now he had his grandson's interest. "Who are you talking about?"

"Will you stay here?"

"Wow, emotional blackmail. Nice one, gramps."

_"Will you stay here?"_

"Oh, for Arceus' sake. Yes, I'll stay here, now tell me who it is!"

But he didn't need to wait for an answer, because the door behind Oak that lead to the staircase to his apartment opened at that instant, and a squeaky voice exclaimed "_You're here!" _

And Green nearly passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Red felt fantastic. He didn't even know how else to describe this feeling, but "fantastic" did a pretty good job of covering everything that was going on inside of him right now. When had been the last time he felt fantastic? He didn't know. All he knew was that the tight knot in his stomach was gone, and that the anxiety he had been carrying with him for the last two years wasn't as bad as before. The most difficult part of his return was done. He still felt his heart racing when he thought about how he faced his mother, Green not giving him a chance to escape, and now he wondered how the hell he had actually brought up the courage to do it. Only two thoughts were preventing him from literally jumping in the air for joy: first, he had disappointed his mother and there was absolutely nothing he could do to make up for what he had done. And second, he still hadn't faced his biggest enemy: the media. He felt it lurking behind every corner, attacking him with their glearing camera lights and their inappropriate questions, making him feel the full force of disappointment in the form of stupid news articles. He was glad that no one had approached him yet, but then again, this was Pallet Town. No one was even outside right now. As soon as someone snapped a picture of him...as soon as they posted it online... there would be a storm coming for him, and he better get ready before that happened.

He took a deep breath. _One obstacle after the other. Start out small, _he thought. And the first obstacle before the paparazzi and the annoying fans was Professor Oak. Would he be disappointed? Or, worse, would he still act like Red was all that? Would he make Green feel small and insignificant for the sake of the Great Champion Red?

But these things, he concluded, were not going to ruin his mood. Not now. He was home, he had made it off the mountain, and that mattered. He looked around, taking the sight of his hometown completely in and took a breath of the fresh air. The small, comfy houses had never looked more beautiful in his eyes. One of them- it used to be white- was painted pink now. It didn't look good and fell out of line with all the other houses, but Red decided he liked it, and he also decided that he liked the owners. They were different, and they were okay with it.

The trees growing on both sides of the street made this a beautiful, natural looking avenue, and the air carried the scent of their leaves. Red had always loved that. Right before him, two houses were coming up that had been abandoned for as long as he could remember. They were derelict, but the town never got rid of them. The newsletter his mom used to read (or still read?) announced that the mayor of Veridian City and Pallet wanted to do something about it every single day, and Red used to smile and roll his eyes every time he saw the articles because he knew these two houses would probably stay here forever.

And he had always been happy about that, because the roof of one of the abandoned garages used to be Red's favorite hideout, and, after Green found it too, it became their hangout place. The roof was contorted because part of the house was connected to it, and there was a wall that protected them from curious stares. When they were still kids, they used to plan all kinds of shenanigans up there. One time, when they were six years old, Green had "moved" here because he was mad at his grandpa, and it was only thanks to Red who brought him food and water every single day that his friend held out for an entire week before the police finally found him and a panicked Delia for once totally lost it with the both of them. That had been the only time he had seen her furious. He smiled at the memory.

Just as he was walking past the old garage, lost in his memories, something landed on his shoe with a slosh and made him jump. He looked down at what it was; vanilla ice cream. He didn't even need to look up to know who had dropped it.

_"Whoops! _Sorry! How clumsy of me!", a voice above Red's head said theatric.

Red scowled while unhappily looking at the scoop of ice cream that was already starting to dissolve into a puddle. "You wasted some perfectly good vanilla ice cream just for that!", he scolded. "A _miltank _had to give up her calf just for that!"

"Ahhh, come on, Red, don't be _that _kind of vegan!", Green mocked. "I did you a favour; maybe now you can get rid of these ugly shoes you always wear and buy some good ones." Red looked up at him and shook his head disapprovingly. Green was casually sitting on the edge of the wall with an empty ice cream cone in his hand. That asshole had seriously thrown ice cream on the ground just to annoy Red. He didn't like it when people wasted food, especially not if that food was a pokémon product.

But he wasn't willing to dwell on that subject, especially because he now noticed that something was kinda off about his friend. He seemed cocky and chipper as ever, but looking closer, Red noticed the tension in his old rival's arms and a slight tremble of his body. He seemed...restless?

"What are you doing up there?", Red asked, ignoring Green's little jab and putting one hand over his forehead to protect his eyes from the sun as he looked at Green.

The auburn-haired man just shrugged. "Enjoying the view. At least I did, but then you came and ruined it all."

"Good one," Red deadpanned. "Can I join you?"

He was more than happy about being able to skip professor Oak and go straight to hanging out with Green like they used to. And it seemed like Green had survived the lecture, so that was something.

Green shrugged once again. "Whatever."

In his language, that was a "Yes". Nimbly and swiftly like a Pachirisu, Red climbed on the small wall in front of the garage and then pulled himself up, using the help of an old pipe.

When he let himself flop down next to Green, an unpleasant, sharp smell made itself felt almost immediately, and when he looked at Green, he saw little billows of smoke rise into view, coming from the hand that wasn't holding the now useless cone. He didn't know why it surprised him, but it did, and he absolutely didn't like what he saw.

"You're smoking," he said matter of factly, not quite sure what he was intending with this statement.

"I know, but thanks for the compliment anyway. You'd look pretty good too if you put in a little more effort," Green teased, but Red could tell he wasn't really feeling it.

He gave the cigarette a bewildered look. Green had never mentioned this. He had also never smelled like smoke. Usually he smelled like a walking perfumery because of all the millions of products he was wearing on his body every day to make himself look the way he did (seriously, Red had never seen such soft skin on a grown man), and while Red had never liked that smell, at least it had been..._Green_. Now he smelled hair gel, perfume and deodorant mixed with the stench of these cancer sticks.

Just like yesterday, he was stunned at how different circumstances could change people and relationships entirely. Red had barely been back in the real world for a day, and now his old rival's scent already changed.

Red decided he didn't want to accept this. Without a warning, he snatched the cigarette out of Green's hand and threw it on the ground.

"Hey, what the-...pfft. It's okay, I still have a whole pack." He showed it to Red as if to prove it and then lit up another cigarette.

"Since when do you smoke?", Red asked. Smoking was normal, it was just something that people did, and it wasn't as nearly as bad as drugs and alcoholism, so Red wondered why the hell this bothered him so much.

Back in High School, almost everyone in their year had smoked. But Green, Green hadn't.

"I don't know," he answered. "A year, maybe two? I stopped for a few months, but now I really need it. It relaxes me."

Red could tell Green was far, far away with his thoughts, and suddenly, he became worried. Was Green so stressed that he needed to rely on unhealthy methods to calm himself down? And what had stressed him so much to begin with? Did it have to do with...

"...your grandpa?"

Green took a pull on his cigarette, and when he sighed, a gust of smoke came out of his mouth and nose. It made Red sick. "Don't wanna talk about it."

"That bad?"

"Worse."

This wasn't the first time that Green was in a bad mood because of his grandfather and Red tried to cheer him up, but this was still different from how it used to be. Usually Green immediately started ranting and talking bad about professor Oak when he had the chance, but now he just looked resigned. That was when Red realized that Green probably wasn't the only one who had changed in these three years; professor Oak likely had, too. And maybe the way he treated his grandson had become worse.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Nnnope." Green took a bite out of his cone and chewed it gloomily.

When Green Oak doesn't want to talk, you know something serious is up. Red bit his lip while awkwardly looking at his hands, not really knowing what to do or what to say.

He knew his friend, but at the same time, did he really? He had no idea how to deal with a silent Green because Green was never silent.

But he had to do _something _because his friend looked so tense, Red was scared he would bite his own teeth out. Or break his own knuckles. He hesitantly lifted a hand to give him a pat on the shoulder, only to put it down again before Green would notice. He didn't know if he would appreciate the physical contact. A terrible thought came to him suddenly: were him and Green truly friends anymore? Were friends really that awkward around each other? The Green that came to visit him on MT. Silver every day was an actor, someone masked happiness and whose only goal it was to get Red off the damn mountain. Now he was the real Green, still an actor because he was terrible at showing his true emotions, but with his own problems and worries, and Red didn't know how to deal with them, or _him_. Sometimes, he wanted to shake him and yell "Smile! Laugh! Cry! God damnit, do _anything, _just take off the mask you're wearing!_" _

He felt the guilt heavily sitting on his chest; Green always seemed to have a plan when Red had issues. And here Red was, not even daring to put a hand on his shoulder and on top of that being annoyed at the way his friend was handling his problems.

Some friend he was. He knew he needed to do better if he wanted to keep Green around, he needed to do _something _to cheer him up. But just as he opened his mouth, Green suddenly smiled that fake smile that Red hated more than anything in the world and asked: "By the way, how was the talk with your mom? You still seem intact, so I assume you fled the scene?"

He breathed out the breath he had taken to talk, silently cursing Green for interrupting him.

"You know my mom. She's not the type to chase after me with a rolling pin."

Although he did have to grin at the thought. Green did too. It seemed genuine, and Red marked it as his second biggest achievement of today. He had made Green smile. The guy had such a nice smile when he wasn't faking it. Why couldn't he just do it more?

"Too bad, I was kinda hoping for it," Green said. "Someone _needs _to punch you in the face."

"Why haven't _you _done it then? You scared of me?", Red taunted.

"Tsk. No?! I just don't want to get my beautiful hands dirty on someone like _you."_

Red laughed. He had to admit that Green's vanity _was _amusing to a degree.

"But seriously, how was it?", Green asked now.

Red wasn't sure if he really cared or if he just wanted to distract from his own issues. Either way, deep down he was relieved that he didn't have to try and cheer Green up now, and he hated himself for that.

Reading people and treating them accordingly usually came easy for him. He had spent his entire childhood not really talking that much and rather observing. His mother had once told him that his kindergarten teachers had _adored_ 4-year old Red for his high social skills and his- for his age- high capability of empathy. But Green was just a different story. If being empathetic and cheering others up was a game, then all other people would be easy challenges, and Green would be the final boss. Which was weird because most other people were strangers to Red, while Green was his best friend, then his rival, and then his friend again. For _seventeen years. _

It was just that Green also had a talent that he had perfected ever since childhood, and that was deceiving people. The only one he didn't fool with his masquerade was Red, and maybe Red's mom, but their skills were only good enough to realize that Green was fake; not to see who the real Green was.

Again, Red had to question if they were truly friends if Green wasn't even willing to show him his true self.

_"Hello?" _The auburn-haired man snapped his fingers in front of his face. The cigarette was thankfully gone now, only the half-eaten ice cream cone was still in his other hand. "Someone home? I asked you something."

Red jumped a little. He _needed _to stop thinking so much when he was talking to people.

"You're weird, Red," Green said now. "That thing you always do, ya know, not answering and looking at nothing, it freaks me out."

Red playfully punched his shoulder, rolling his eyes. "You know what we should do?", he asked as he suddenly had an epiphany.

"So you're just gonna ignore my question?"

"Yes." If Green wasn't going to tell him what had happened at the lab, Red wasn't going to tell him what he wanted to know either. "Anyway, remember how we used to get into handcards and roll down the little hill in Chester's Street?"

"Yeah. It was dangerous as hell."

"I know! Let's do it again!" The more Red thought about this the more excited he was at this terrible idea. There were so many things he wanted to do and experience now that he was home, and also, this would be the perfect opportunity to spend time with Green and finally see him laugh again.

Green however looked at his friend as if he had lost his mind. "Red, we aren't six anymore."

"Exactly, that limits the risk! Makes it a little less fun, but still!"

"It seems like you missed out on this thing called _growing up _and _common sense _while you were up there. I can't just do dangerous shit like that, I'm a teacher, I need to be a role model."

Now Red looked at Green like he was crazy. "You're a _Gym Leader."_

"Red, do you _ever _listen when I talk? Gym Leaders also have the responsibility to teach classes of aspiring pokémon trainers and, well, training with them. I've _complained _about my students so many times now!"

"Ooooohhhhh." Red had to admit that he usually stopped listening when Green started complaining about his day (except when it had to do with professor Oak because that was important information), but now he remembered. Training pokemon was an extremely high responsibility and came with an extremely high risk, so the government had decided that absolute experts in training had to teach the kids the most important knowledge.

The stronger the Gym Leader was, the older was the age group that they taught because legally, you could only become a pokémon trainer if you were at least ten years old, only had unevolved pokémon that weren't bigger than 1,30 meters tall and an adult accompanied you (which was pretty lame, so no one did it). At sixteen years old, you could travel alone, but there were still certain pokémon you weren't allowed to have until you were at least eighteen and passed a test, so it made sense that weaker Gym Leaders taught the smaller kids with their smaller pokémon.

Now he realized that this was also a reason why him and Green were more famous than the other Champions: because they had managed to beat the entire Elite 4 with pokémon that weren't taller than 1,45 and only on the second stage of evolvement.

He really should have given himself and Green more credit because _that _was one hell of an achievement. It was just too bad that people only ever saw that Green lost a few minutes after winning the Championship, and not that he had done something that almost no sixteen year old could ever dream to accomplish without cheating.

"…typical, I talk and you don't listen, and then you…hey! You're doing it again! You're staring off into the distance! You're not listening to me while I'm complaining about you not listening to me!", Green ranted. For how long had he been ranting? He didn't care, he just wanted to go to the hill and roll down in a handcart like he used to, so he didn't say anything, just grabbed Green by his arm and pulled him along as he walked to the old pipe to climb down again.

"Did you _hear _what I _just _said?", Green complained.

Red smiled. "Yes. Let's go."

That's when Green exploded and Red grinned as he climbed down, feeling pretty satisfied with himself.

* * *

"Oh, gosh darn it!" Delia rummaged through the pantry. "Come on, _seriously?"_

Yep. Ever since Green had told her that Red was alive, she had made sure that she had all the ingredients for potato stew in the house every day. _All _the ingredients.

_Except potatoes. _

Frustrated, she slapped the empty shelf as if it was responsible for this. This day had been a crazy one, in a good and in a bad way, and she was just tired and annoyed.

Strangely, she was okay with that annoyance since a big part of her heart was fulfilled because of Red's return. Every obstacle life would throw her way today was insignificant compared to this. Yes, she _was _disappointed and hurt, but part of being a mother, she guessed, was loving your children no matter what they did. And for all _she _cared, Red could commit murder and he would still be her Red. She didn't know if that was an unprogressive way of thinking, or if it was right, but she didn't care; emotions aren't rational, and she would never ever stop being a mom.

So if now the shelf had to suffer a little because it dared not to have potatoes in it, then so be it. She'd have to go to the market to buy some new ones.

Red probably wouldn't be back for a while anyway. He would either spend some time with Green- she kind of hoped for that because Green really should have some company-, or professor Oak would start talking and talking and never let him go.

She sighed and searched for her keys and her wallet, then she left for the market.

As she had expected, all of Pallet seemed to be here. The little town was dead and dozy, but the market was _always _full of masses of people. She didn't even know that many people lived in Pallet, so a lot of them probably came here from Veridian City because they knew the products here were fresh and regional.

Usually she hated being here because every time she was, she felt people staring at her, the mother of the boy who had disappeared. But now that he was back, she didn't mind anymore.

_Yeah, keep staring, _she thought. _I know something that you don't know..._

She went straight to the vegetables, hoping she wouldn't have to wait in line for too long (of course she was wrong), when suddenly a rather tall man pushed her out of the way.

"Ex_cuse _me!", she yelled after him, but he just kept walking. Delia shook her head. Some people!

_Red is back. Don't let this guy ruin your mood, your son is back and life is good._

With a frustrated sigh, she kept walking and, when she had finally made it through the masses of people, grabbed the desired potatoes.

That's when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched a little while she quickly rummaged in her memory who this could be, and when she turned around, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A woman her age was giving her a wide, excited smile.

_"It's really you!", _she screeched with a voice Delia had always hated. A hug without consent followed that Delia didn't return because she was still too shocked. "I wasn't sure if I should approach you or not because _how awkward_ would it be if you weren't the right person, but wow, you still look so _young _and exactly as you did back then!"

Delia took a breath to say something, but the woman continued. "What a coincidence that we're seeing each other here! I've been back in Pallet for a few days now, but I've been at the lab with my father-in-law the whole time! And guess what, I saw my son today! For the first time in like _ten years!_ That boy has _grown!" _She sighed and looked like she was talking about a cute little puppy or something when she continued: "Can you believe it? Our boys are so big now! And my gosh, he's _handsome _and he has achieved _so much, _I am _so proud. _He didn't really appreciate me unexpectedly dropping in on his life again, but I'm sure he'll come around. Ahhh, but here I am, bragging about my kid like I didn't know what happened to your's! I'm so sorry Delia."

Delia took another breath, but was interrupted again. "It's such a shame! Your Red was a real prodigy. You're so strong, how are you dealing with this? Because if I lost my Green, I wouldn't be able to live on anymore."

Delia didn't bother taking a breath this time, and it turned out that she didn't have to. "I admire you! Really! But anyway, busy day! I wish we could talk and really catch up, but I still need to buy groceries, I want to prepare my baby's favorite meal for when he comes back! Send my best wishes to- oh, I'm sorry. Hope we can have dinner soon! Have a nice day, sweetie!"

She kissed Delia's left and right cheek despite the fact that Delia tried to pull her face away as far as possible in disgust, then she disappeared in the crowd of people, while the other woman just stood there, wondering what the hell had just happened, and if it was really real.

Then suddenly, her heart was aching so much, it almost wasn't bearable, and she really hoped now that Red was with his friend.

_Oh, Green, _she thought sadly. _Poor, poor Green. _


End file.
